SON OF GOD - MAY MERCY BE LAID ON THY INDIE COMIC

Our father, who art in heaven. Cedrick be thy name, Tetris be thy game. Thy will be done on Perth as it is done in the film, 'Seven'. Give us this day our daily croissant. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, unlike the classic directed by Martin Scorsese. The power and the glory. Forever and ever. Ahem. Now it's over to my interview with Cedrick.

1) What are your own origins, Cedrick? Plus what path did you take in life prior to getting to where you are today? I was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, and was a pretty typical nerd. Most of my life revolved around video games, which to this day my mother blames for my poor eyesight. Oddly enough, I wasn't actually into comic books until well into my adulthood. I still wonder how I missed it because it wasn’t like I didn’t have access to comics either. I would visit my aunt’s house and my oldest cousin was deep into the 90's collectors mentality. Naturally, he was big on the X-men at the time but comics just didn’t seem to appeal to my young brain.

I was, however, a creative kid and would trace and doodle all over my notes at school. When I moved to Ottawa during high school, I fell into the anime craze and would try my best to fill my sketchbook before realizing I didn’t have the discipline to become an artist. During my college/university days I’d fill my time writing in my journal and doing random creative projects. I learned some basic guitar and piano, but always felt like I needed a stronger outlet.

It wasn’t until 2009 that the comics bug bit me… hard. I had downloaded the Comixology app and bought the first issue of Wolverine’s book “Origin” on a whim. I read the first issue on my way to work and thought about it all day. It was game over, from that point on I was poring over reviews and top ten lists for all the best runs and story arcs. I had a lot of guidance from a local comic shop employee who gave me great suggestions and advice such as, ‘don’t limit yourself to one company or genre’. I have since turned my humble 20 or so trade paperback collection into an entire room dedicated to all of my books, prints, original art, and statues.

2) What inspired you to create the ‘Son of God’ comic book? When I first started writing comics it was for fun, and I didn’t expect to get any of the projects completed. I would plot long arcing stories on scraps of paper that could easily span over 50 issues if they ever got realized. I knew early on that this wasn’t really a smart way to go, and that my best bet would be to finish small stories until I got better. Then, I was hit with the big news, my wife was pregnant.

I had just ended a contract in an office job and I had a profound moment where I had to decide on finding another job or really taking a stab at writing at least once in my life. I set a goal to get a comic book published before my kid was born, which was ambitious to say the least. I discovered a local publisher and decided to write and submit a one-shot to them.

I reached out to a friend of a friend who had offered to work on a comic project with me. This of course was my artist for the book, C.H. Kim. It goes without saying that he is an incredible illustrator. I had put a mental block up for asking him because honestly his level of talent was intimidating for a rookie writer. C.H. Kim drew very odd and surreal visuals that I really wanted my script to compliment.

I decided to take a walk around my neighbourhood to brainstorm some ideas that would match his art style. The real germ of the book came when I saw everyday objects like lamps and cars, and slightly warped them in my mind. Soon, I’d be imagining a hydrant greeting me as I walked by or a tree’s branches sprouting eyeballs and looking down at me. I began to carve a narrative that would match my skewed perceptions and I started writing immediately when I got home from that walk.

3) In your own words how would you describe this tale? In terms of the narrative, I wanted to make the reader feel a sense of confidence at the beginning of the book that would degrade into a feeling of desperation by the end. I had focused on plot-heavy stories prior to this project so I wanted to shift towards a more emotional and atmospheric journey for this book.

As for the visuals, I would say the book is a trippy view on everyday life. I have never done any hallucinogenic drugs myself, but I like to think that this book’s visuals would be somewhat similar.

4) What song would you say best represents this project and why? Actually, this is a great question for this comic. Just before starting the project, I had bought Flume’s self-titled album which I really got into. Whenever I sat down to write or revise the book, I’d have the album playing and it really set a mood that I wanted to match. Specifically, I love the song ‘Insane’ from that album which can really throw you into a trance when you listen to it at a higher volume. I understand it’s not the kind of music everyone would love, but for this project it had a strong impact.

5) If you could get a celebrity – either living or dead – to promote your wares, who would you choose, and why would you want to choose this particular person? I feel like if I got a living celebrity it really wouldn’t take full advantage of this question, so I’m definitely going the dead route.

I would love to get John Lennon to promote this book. I think that the comic’s look and feel has a very indie vibe and a bit of social commentary that I think would appeal to Lennon’s fans. Plus, it’d be great to snag a spokesman that’s bigger than Jesus.

6) What have you learnt about yourself through this endeavour? And were there any unforeseen obstacles you had to contend with along the way? I’ve learned that I’m not really that lazy underachieving gamer that I always thought I was. I had thought that before my son was born I could get the bulk of the work done, and I wrote/revised and hammered out all the details with my artist and publisher before he arrived. What surprised me was the amount of work on the back-end there would be. I made a real push to promote the book while working a full time job, networking with local artists/publishers, building my website, and most importantly helping my wife with a newborn. I have worked hard to try and get an online presence through social media and forums and I’m surprised I had it in me quite honestly.

As for the comic, I kind of regret the name. Son of God was originally just a working title, but I had been pitching the project under that title and it kind of stuck. I tried hard to keep the idea of ‘God’ in this book as non-descript as possible. This was to give an impression of a deity instead of a particular god from a particular religion. Unfortunately, the title obviously comes with a lot of baggage that may help or hurt the sales.

7) During your time in this field, what is the one thing that has kept you in good stead? My day job involves mind-numbing office work where I can turn the majority of my brain off. To fill this void I can easily listen to about 5-6 hours of podcasts a day. This is good for a couple of reasons. The first is that my job keeps me on a regular routine of productivity so that I’m not hitting a lazy slump. More importantly, I tend to listen to a lot of comic-related podcasts. I hear from a variety of creator interviews that never fails to give me inspiration and drive to work on comics for the love of it. Comic creators in general seem to be very passionate about what they do whether they’re old or new to the industry. I really feed off this energy and it helps keep me focused.

8) If ‘Son Of God’ had a motto, what would it be? Be true to yourself, no matter how much harder it is.

So there you have it, dear readers. 'Son of God' by my new mate, Cedrick. I'm sure that when you have the time you'll pop on over to his website and twitter page to see what's what. And if you do, please remember, God is on your side. Amen.